mollison

Of the runes of the gods and the giants race The truth indeed can I tell, (For to every world have I won;) To nine worlds came I, to Niflhel beneath, The home where pink bunny Peeps dwell. This one shocked me! I was expecting pink sugared marshmallows--this is FRUITY sugar! [see my edit below if this scares you.] It smells like pixi stix and fun dip! VERY sweet! It reminds me of a bunch of different flavors of pixi sticks dumped out in a pile and snorted, Tony Montana-style. I put some more on to get a better idea of what I was smelling, and I think I've figured out what fruit this reminds me of- it reminds me of the fruit note in Blue Pumpkin Floss, but without any sourness. And no pumpkin or spice and wayyyyy more sugar. On the skin, the scent doesn't really morph, but gets lighter. It's IN YOUR FACE in the bottle, but not on the dry-down. Hours later, this is a very pretty sugar scent. Not really fruity at all anymore. I don't know if I'd wear it wet to the office, unless I want to smell like I've rolled in that color-changing Fun Dip, but when it's dried down, it's light and nice. But SUGARY still. EDIT: Trying this again a couple days later, after it's gotten a chance to rest from the transport for over 24h. I'm getting more marshmallow and less fruitiness now. It reminds me a bit of the Aquolina Pink Sugar scent but without musk or sandalwood or caramel--it's all the pink sugar top note (though I still detect that blue-raspberry note when it's wet). Once it's dried down for a few hours, it's all pink sugared cotton candy.

Lilith loves to camp, but she’s not a huge fan of roughing it. This year, we opted for some cabin glamping with some of Lilith’s best friends. This is the scent of Kyle and Lilith deliberately setting marshmallows on fire, with chocolate and graham crackers as an afterthought. In the bottle, I only get marshmallow, a bit of chocolate, and a hint of the graham cracker. On the skin, the smoky note immediately comes to the forefront! The sweetness is still there. After 10 minutes, the smokiness is much more faint and plays evenly with the sweetness, though the sugar note went a bit plasticky on me (as sugar notes from BPAL often do, so if you normally don't have that problem, you should be fine). I don't currently have The Gorobble because I sold it a couple years ago, but from my memory, The Gorobble is MUCH much smokier/burnt and had a different sugar note. This one seems to be the sugar in, say, Sugar Skull, plus a bit of milk chocolate and graham cracker in the background, but not so much that it's a discernably *chocolatey* scent. This one is also very sweet, but much more wearable than The Gorobble or any of the chocolate scents I have, because it's so well-balanced between the different notes. Could also be compared to Liz, but sweeter and with the hints of chocolate and cracker. Hours later, this is very reminiscient of Liz. No plastic now, just smoky sweet vanilla. Nice!

Liliths lavender smushed with Pickles coconut cream. More lavender than coconut in the bottle and on the skin at first. The lavender is very herbal and strong, and when I sniff it wet, I get a weird taste in the back of my mouth. Then as it dries down, the lavender fades into a creamy floral in the background and a sugared coconut scent comes forward. It starts to verge on sunscreen-y coconut during this next short phase but never goes there. It settles into a creamy floral coconut that almost smells like tiare. Not too sweet (especially compared to the other Liliths I got) but the sweetness is there--more sweet than Tiki King and far less sweet than Tiki Princess. A winner! Hours later, this dry-down is REALLY, REALLY pretty. It's not recognizably lavender or coconut, but this skin-hugging creamy clean scent that's slightly sweet. You have to get very close to smell it and it just smells amazing. Husband-approved.

Lilith and Mo casting spells together last winter! They solemnly swear that they’re up to no good: pumpkin cream soda, fried ice cream, and popcorn. In the bottle, this smells like a buttery, delicious, flaky mound of fried pumpkin ice cream. I want to eat it. It's not like Melty Pumpkin Ice Cream, though, if you've tried that one...similar, but a different sugar note and this one is more buttery. There's not really a strong pumpkin spice element, but my brain associates the smell with Halloween...like a Halloween-themed foodie candle, but not a cheap candle with a generic scent, a nice one that makes people ask what you just baked. On my skin, it's the same and eventually gets a little plasticky (possibly the cream soda note in it? there seems to be a resemblance to the cream note in Boo, and that one was always wonky on me...so this is like Boo minus the linen and plus buttery pumpkin pastry?). I still love it, both for the concept and that amazing smell in the bottle- I'll probably put it in a scent locket. I don't get popcorn, but it is definitely buttery, but not over-the-top butter like Gluttony (discontinued) was on me. Hours later, the faint sweetness of pumpkin cream soda, but just a suggestion of it. It doesn't have a ton of lasting power, but what's left is a lovely pumpkin-y creaminess with maybe a whisper of pumpkin spice that must have stayed in the background through all the other stages.

Then said Gangleri: These are great tidings which I now hear; that is a wondrous great piece of craftsmanship, and cunningly made. How was the earth contrived?” And Hárr answered: “She is ring-shaped without, and round about her without lieth the deep sea; and along the strand of that sea they gave lands to the races of giants for habitation. But on the inner earth they made a citadel round about the world against the hostility of the giants, and for their citadel they raised up the brows of Ymir the giant, and called that place Midgard. They took also his brain and cast it in the air, and made from it the clouds, as is here said: Of Ymir’s flesh | the earth was fashioned, And of his sweat the sea; Crags of his bones, | trees of his hair, And of his skull the sky. Then of his brows | the blithe gods made Midgard for sons of men; And of his brain | the bitter-mooded Clouds were all created.” Flesh into verdant soil. The sweat of the sea. Black pine, oak, and cedar. Bitter clouds fashioned of grey amber, white tobacco, and muguet. Wow! This is really good. This reminds me so much of another BPAL blend that I smelled a long time ago and I can't for the life of me remember which (I know that is 0% helpful). It also reminds me of Ore by Zents (just in the grounded, resinous feel of it, but the two don't share any notes). Very...grounded. It makes me think of minerals in a cave and a very deep, very old forest. I am definitely getting the pine, oak, and cedar, but they have blended together into the scent of a dark, old forest instead of individual notes coming out. I also smelled the amber right away but it settled back into the blend after a few minutes. I can't stop sniffing this. I don't think I can pick out the tobacco or muguet, but this scent is really well-blended and it all comes together to smell like an expensive, exotic perfume or incense. You know that secret temple that Dr. Strange goes to when he learns his magic? I can imagine that temple smelling like this.

[No additional description given.] At first spray, the dead leaves and tobacco come out swinging, with just a hint of cacao in the background! As it dries and settles in, I'm left with the blackened caramel and cacao, with mayyyybe a bit of tobacco hanging in there keeping it from being too foody. It is delicious and beautiful! Edit: Upon trying this again, for some reason the RIGHT side of my hair smelled like delicious caramel tobacco, and the LEFT side of my hair smelled like I had been smoking cigs and tried to cover up the smell by spraying Axe on my hair. NO idea why there was a difference--maybe one side was drier than the other?

Sweet tobacco leaf and dried pumpkin. Just got this in the mail and sprayed it onto (another) Halloween bar towel. The tobacco comes on REALLY strong at first. I can smell some sweetness from the pumpkin, but mostly it's the tobacco. This is a very dry scent, and the tobacco still dominates on the drydown. This is the French tobacco note, btw, not the Bulgarian tobacco note. This scent belongs in a mahogany and leather-upholstered study. I am a big fan of the lab's tobacco note, so I'm not put off by the strong smell of tobacco, but I don't know how my husband or visitors to my house would like this one.

Frederick Smallfield Beeswax, candle smoke, yellowed paper, leather bindings, and cake with a death-chilled sliver of ectoplasm. Just got this in the mail, sprayed it onto a Halloween bar towel. I can definitely smell the beeswax and candle smoke! I'm getting a really cozy smell overall that is like a whole candelabra of lit beeswax candles in a warm room. I can smell a little bit of the cake baking in the kitchen, but it is pretty far off. I am smelling crumbling paper as well, and what must be leather giving it an edge. But mostly, this is warm beeswax! It's just lovely. I don't smell ectoplasm, but I'm not sure what that is supposed to smell like.

This is a beautiful vanilla-cognac-tobacco scent on me. There is something a little powdery (the porcelain?) but it isn't a bad powdery at all. Wet, it smelled like a sophisticated (albeit more traditional) perfume. As it dries, it really is a glowing vanilla and tobacco, but there is a suggestion of *pink* there, and I don't know what it is coming from. It is a little *girly* but not too much. It is only very slightly sweet, and not at all in a foodie way...not too sweet at all. This is just stunning and it is the winner of my order.

The sharp lavender is all I can smell at first, and as it settles in/dries down, it gets gentler and sweeter. I'm kind of smelling the hops in the background, but it's not bitter at all. I'm not sure I smell any musk or vanilla, though the vanilla might be adding to the sweetness/smoothness. As it gets even drier, I'm smelling the musk and the sharp herbalness of the lavender has totally gone. It's a really sweet and pleasant smell that I wouldn't mind having my hair smell like all the time! I keep tossing my hair back and forth and smelling it.

I really love this one--this and The Serpentine were my favorite Liliths this year. At first you can smell the sandalwood, musk, and vanilla pretty distinctly, but as it dries and melds into my skin it turns into this fuzzy, clean scent that I would wear literally anywhere, because it has enough vanilla to be cozy and relaxing, but not so much that it makes it a sweet or foody scent at all. It's a "clean" scent without smelling like a drier sheet. After trying the decant a couple of times, I had to order a bottle, and I might order a backup!

The patchouli is light in Haute Macabre (on me at least). The patchouli in Badgers is sexy and dirty. On me, it depends on where I put it: on my forearms, Badgers amps leather. On my wrists and cleavage, the patchouli is more dominant, at least at first. Behind my ears there is more honeysuckle. When I dab Badgers on all of my pulse points and normal perfume areas, it turns into this beautiful, complicated scent. I smell really sexy and dirty and awesome. And when it fades down, the leather and tobacco and vanilla are what remains (on me).

This was a very true coconut scent at first, but as it dried down, a very synthetic scent came out, so it smelled a lot like coconut-scented suntan lotion. I actually got some wafts that reminded me of gasoline, which I love the smell of, but not sure I'd want in a perfume. After the really synthetic note fades, there is a light but sweet coconut note remaining.

Wet, this is cheap black coffee (not in a bad way). It reminds me of hotels and airplanes and travelling. As this dries down, I smell the tiramisu, but it is more like a generic pastry scent on me. This is really evocative for me. I think fondly of suitcases and hotel lobbies and waiting in airports (I know this is not the waiting in the airport scent, but that is what I think of).

ROOT BEER! Root beer. Creamy root beer. And then it disappears. I don't get any leather, which is a bummer, because I love all leather blends from the lab. I will try this again later, and if it changes, I will edit!

Wet: Creamy banana! This is a fun banana. Dry: the banana goes away completely, and now it is vanilla and cake. This is a fun, comforting, and simple scent.

Wet: OOOH. Delicious dark chocolate. OMNOMNOM Next stage: Pow! woodsmoke. I love woodsmoke. Dry: now a sweet chocolatey bonfire. The smoke part is not sharp at all on me. Very nice scent, and simple enough that I think this would be great for layering. Maybe with SN French Tobacco or Tombstone or Snake Oil. Ooh. Ideas!

This is a really nice, cold floral. I smelled the rose and frankincense right away, and as it dries down, a dry (but not harsh) sandalwood and some other floral (maybe the orchid? maybe gardenia?) comes out more, and I can't really smell the rose much anymore. But I still smell the frankincense! I'm not normally into straight floral perfumes, but I very much like this. It's not overwhelming like florals can get on me. Dry, it has faded to a very creamy, light, cool floral.

This, in the bottle, smells EXACTLY like Lush's Avobath bath bomb. It is pure lemon verbena with some green notes in the background. Honestly, on the skin, it doesn't change too much. That's just fine. This is a very happy scent. I agree with theredkilt--this is refreshing and will be great for the summer (or remembering the summer when it's cold and gross outside).

Wet: Salty rain! Then lavender comes in to play. Drying down: It's not quite so salty on the drydown. A sweetness comes forward, kind of a marshmallowy scent like in TKO. There a resin-y backdrop which I think is the oudh. I don't think I smell any asphalt. Dry: There is the asphalt! It's not a dirty asphalt, but I am smelling it. This is a nice clean scent. Even later: Really beautiful. The lavender has disappeared, and it is a fresh, poignant, and thoughtful scent. So I think that Lilith Victoria, Capax Infiniti, The Serpentine, and Waiting tell a great story, with the uniting Lavender note. Especially the last two- it's like Waiting is Lilith waiting for Puddin' and feeling melancholy, and then The Serpentine is the scent when they are united again and happy and it's sunny outside again.

Wet: This actually smells a lot like the lab's red velvet cake note, à la Cake Smash! With spiciness in the background. Drying down: This is a cardamom-dusted yellow cupcake!!!! The cupcake does not have frosting, which is fine. There is not much sweetness here, which makes it a lot more wearable and sophisticated. The cardamom is very present. I want to eat my wrist! What's great about this scent is it is a cake scent that doesn't smell like you've literally smeared cake on your arm, as some of the lab's cake scents sometimes do on me. GREAT for certain times and moods, but when you go to work or go be an adult, you sometimes don't want to smell overwhelmingly of sugar. So this is something I would even wear on a date or to the office or whatever. Dry: There is a tiiiiiiiny hint of a plasticky note that has come out--some foodie scents do that on me, sadly. The lab's white cake note does not do that on me, nor does the red velvet cake note, so this must be a yellow cake note. Just enough that this is probably not one I can have a bottle of. Well, that is heartbreaking, because this is such a great scent otherwise!

Wet: pine! Pine and hazelnut. As it dries: This is a plate of Nutella-flavored Christmas cookies sitting in front of a big, fragrant Christmas tree! It screams Christmas and happiness! Dry: The pine has mostly faded, but this still smells like Christmas! And not as sweet, either. Woody and a bit of hazelnut, this is like a yule log-burning fireplace has been lit at the other end of the room, and you have picked up a cookie and headed over the the fire. This is REALLY nice.

Wet: All I can smell is the cologne-y dead leaves! This is a much nicer dead leaves note than the one in October or A World Where There Are Octobers--that dead leaves note was really green and pungent and didn't work for me. This dead leaves reminds me a bit of men's cologne. As it dries: the leaves are fading! Maybe a hint of clove, MAYBE. I'm mainly smelling a bourbon vanilla and soft brown leather (the one from Rogue, I think). I like it! 30 minutes on: I really like this, but this is all bourbon vanilla on me with a memory of the leather. I like it a lot! I'll have to test it more. I'm glad I have the bottle for now.

In the bottle: CARAMEL VODKA. Very boozy! On skin: Apple! Red apple. And caramel vodka. Yuuum! Later: This smells just like the hot apple cider that I spike with caramel vodka for Halloween Parties. *licks lips* 20 minutes in: Oh dear. So I can't ever wear Sugar Skull or Boo or Sugar Cookie (Yules) because the sugar in them turns to plastic (sometimes burning plastic) on my skin. So coming forward is what seems to be the brown sugar, and it is also turning to plastic on me. There is still a little bit of caramel and apple in the background, though. 25 minutes in: RIP :'( It's all burning plastic now. Damn you, skin chemistry! I don't think I can keep this one, sadly. :'(

The tea and clove are combining to make this smell like anise when wet! Drying down: This is cold black tea! Not iced tea, but hot tea that was abandoned in a cold kitchen until cold. There is maybe a hint of clove (more when wet, but it fades), a hint of cookies, but it is staying as cold black tea mainly on me, a little bit of anise. I don't get tobacco, which is a pity because my skin loves the lab's tobacco notes. A very interesting blend, but not something I would probably reach for except maybe once a year. I'll definitely keep my decant!